Pakistani ice-cream vendor suspected in £14m money laundering

October 5, 2018 | Brainwave Science

SITUATION

According to The Guardian, Muhammad Abdul Qadir has become the unwitting owner of a bank account containing £14m. A Pakistani ice-cream seller was interrogated last month by Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). During the investigation, the man learned that for more than one year he was the unwitting owner of a bank account that contains millions of dollars when he used to make $4.6 per day selling ice-cream. Pakistan has been identified among three main source countries for money laundering in the UK, according to an analysis by the National Crime Agency (NCA). The agency found that Britain was the prime destination for corrupt “politically exposed persons” (PEPs) to invest their funds and the most common source countries of those funds were Russia, Nigeria and Pakistan.

Two years ago, FIA was informed by the State Bank of Pakistan about a suspicious transaction in Qadir’s account. The account was open between 2014 and 2015, when the untouched millions were withdrawn in the country during a special operation. The FIA is probing at least nearly 80 bank accounts thought to be part of a £220m laundromat for dirty money that allegedly reaches up to former president Asif Ali Zardari.

Qadir said he had no idea of the account and called himself ‘unlucky man in the world’. According to FIA, the account could have been used for money laundering.

CHALLENGE

Money laundering, unfortunately, isn’t a new problem for the modern world. The estimated amount of money laundered globally in one year is 2 – 5% of global GDP, or $800 billion – $2 trillion in current US dollars. In order to avoid payment of taxes or hide illegal actions, the wealthy often prefer to use illegal transactions, involving innocents in those crimes. Qadir ‘s case shows that anyone can be involved in such crimes even the account holder of person in question may have no idea about the accounts and transactions.

Besides, such cases can ruin people’s life. Qadir confessed on the verge of tears ‘People started taunting me by saying, ‘Look a billionaire is selling ice-cream’’. Besides, his mother feared rumors of fabulous wealth might incite kidnappers and advised him to stay at home. Proving his guilt or non-involvement to the crime is a very important task for law enforcement agencies. Financial crimes needs evidence that is always difficult but not impossible to get. FIA and other investigative agencies in Pakistan need to solve the problem of money laundering that is closely tied to narcotics/drug trafficking, terrorism, smuggling, tax evasion, corruption and fraud.

WHY ICOGNATIVE?

Money laundering just like financial crimes aren’t easy to solve even if the best agents are working on this case. Money laundering and terrorist financing are often accomplished in Pakistan via the alternative remittance system called hundi or hawala. This system is also widely used by the Pakistani people for informal banking purposes. It is a great danger to nation’s security because financial system of the country need to be stabilized and illegal activities need to be nipped in the bud. Given that the traditional methods of investigation may or may not be effective in such situations, the applicability of novel technology is expected by law enforcement. Thankfully such a technology which is extremely accurate, highly applicable and easy in use technology is offered only by Brainwave Science, and it’s called iCognative. It can bring an incredible value to the investigation of those crimes. With use of iCognativeit is possible to solve any and all those crimes easily and provide justice for victims as well as for nations who suffer from money laundering.

Qadir’s case can be solved with the use of one of the most powerful modern technologies –iCognative. It can help investigative agents find out his real involvement, if any, to the case of money laundering. In less than an hour investigator can determine if the man is innocent or a perpetrator. Applicable in over 85% of situations, in any case where an investigation has been carried out iCognative test can be conducted. Case facts and investigation data including details such as: bank name; bank account number dates and time of the transactions; documents from the bank that confirm the creation of this account; sources of funds etc., can be utilized to build case related data (called Stimuli) for testing. Every detail will be flashed on a screen for the suspect to see. While the suspect observes the Stimuli flashed, a proprietary, non-invasive headset records all brainwave data and sends to the system. At the end of the test, iCognative system analyses all data to determine the fact of presence such information in the brain with over 99% accuracy.

The established science of P300/P300 MERMER is proven and supports the technology created by Brainwave Science. It is well-known that DNA or Fingerprints are available in only 1-2% of crimes, absence of physical evidence in the crime scene is no longer a limitation becauseiCognative test can be conducted in more than 85% of cases. The multi-language system gives an opportunity to use the system in every corner of the world, and the ease of usage is just like icing on the cake. Any computer literate investigator can learn to operate this intuitive system driven technology in a matter of days.

iCognative is like a breadth of fresh air for investigations tools sector that improves and enhances investigator’s arsenal with this error-free technology. In cases like Qadir’s, the technology can help to bring solution to the problem really quickly and without specific efforts from investigators. Who knows this might just be the tip of an iceberg in the grand scheme of things related to problem of money-laundering in Pakistan? Get real results, deploy iCognative byBrainwave Sciencebefore it is too late.